Mark Wilson was replaced as captain
Mosconi Cup Team USA-with Capt. Mark Wilson
4 hrs ·
Naturally today is a difficult day as I have been notified and replaced as Captain of Team USA. Yet, I hold no regret for the direction and efforts applied to resurrecting U.S. billiards relevance.
The approach was to reclaim pride and integrity along with excellence in the arena. We have made progress with installing proper values as a foundation for growth of the sport.
Sometimes in life things do not go as planned. We had invested in winning the Mosconi Cup and concurrently reclaim our sport. Patience and positivity wins longterm, quitting is not our style, your efforts will remain and be rewarded, despite any short term setbacks.
Each of you reading this has had an impact and I cannot convey the immense amount of my profound appreciation for all that you have contributed, sacrificed, and bestowed, towards moving billiards forward and away from the general perception of pool. The full measure of your investments has yet to be realized and these concepts will continue to grow and mature due to a better understanding of what distinguishes pool playing from a game and into a sport. While we fell short on the scoreboard, together we have established a direction necessary for performance excellence in the future.
The amount of emotion and passion among each of us for the sport can create an atmosphere of hostility and frustration, but negativity has never been a component of who we have been, who we are, or who we will be. I sincerely harbor no rancor towards the decision to replace me as the Captain and consider the opportunity to have been a great honor and privilege to be so entrusted.
FYI:
The only thing I can say about this is I was taken back at the beginning of the Mosconi Cup 2016, that had an interview with Mark Wilson, where he said, "I hope we don't suck". I have played on many teams and never has any of the coaches or captains ever made such a negative comment to us.
